As the December 31 deadline for tax reform looms, the Montana Farm Bureau is expressing urgency in solving the estate tax issue. The current rate, 35 percent with a $5 million exemption, will revert to 55 percent and a $1 million exemption at midnight on Dec. 31, which will strike a real blow to farm and ranch families.
“It is imperative we get this tax issue resolved immediately in Congress,” says MFBF Executive Vice President Jake Cummins. “Ideally, there would be no inheritance tax at all, since that property has already been taxed. However, at this moment in time, it’s critical to have the rate remain as it is and not drop back to the $1 million deduction and 55 percent. That would put many, many farms and ranches at risk.”
A USDA survey shows that in Montana at 2012 values, farms and ranches larger than 1,316 acres would exceed the $1 million exemption level. If the exemption is reduced to $1 million, it could affect approximately 9,260 Montana farmers and ranchers based on the 2007 USDA Census of Agriculture. The appreciation in farm and ranch real estate values has increased the number of farmers and ranchers that could be affected by the lower exemption level.
“If the estate tax exemption were to shrink to $1 million in 2013, over four times as many farmers and ranchers could be subject to the tax,” says Cummins. “One of Farm Bureau’s greatest missions is to see family farms and ranches stay in the family for generations, and continue to be productive. Having the exemption lowered to $1 million will lead to a sharp loss of family farms and ranches. Sadly, the only fate for many of these places will be subdivisions or selling for non-ag purposes. Most people who own any acreage at all in Montana realize how the price of acreage has rapidly increased over the past 20 years.”
Cummins praises Senator Max Baucus for his strong stand on the issue. “Senator Baucus, who comes from a ranching family, understands how essential it is to keep the exemption at $5 million and 35 percent,” says Cummins. “People don’t realize how land and equipment might be worth millions on paper, yet the last thing that family wants to do is have to sell out when someone dies.”
Between 2002 and 2012, the exemption and tax rate have changed nine times. “Farmers and ranchers need the certainty of a low rate and high exemption on Death Taxes to protect family farms. That is the only way they can effectively prepare for the future and pass along their farms and ranches from one generation to the next,” Cummins concludes.
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